Leaf separator and feeder



Jan. 8, 1935. 1 J. GOUGH 1,987,103

LEAF SEPARATOR AND FEEDER Filed Oct. 29, 1.931

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Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STAT Es; PATENT OFFICE My invention'relates to breaking up bundlesiof dried leaves, especially bundles'of jtobaccole'aves' and also to feeding such bundled leaves to stemmers or other leaf-processing machines orfmechf 5- anisms which require that the leaves be fed "to them more or lessseparatedfromeaoh other; I

In some tobacco fields, it is customary to gather the green leaves together-into bundles, with'their stems twisted or tied together, and to dry them in this condition. The object of my inventionis-to provide an improved mechanism for more or less separating the leaves of such bundles, and mechanism which can be used *as feeders for stemmers" and other leaf-processing machines;

My method of' operating consists, speaking broadly, of breaking the twine or other wrappings of stems of the bundles, then crudely breaking the bundles open, or separating 'theminto idistinct' parts,-by hand for 'examp1e-and in this. condition passing the leafrmasses to a finger or fingers which rapidly and repeatedly" rake individual leaf masses as it were (moreor lessat right angles to the mass), as. for example by repeatedly piercing the individual :leaf' masses and at" each stroke thrustingian integral part of the mass away more.

or less transversely of itself and more orlessat right angles to the body orremainder'of the leaf mass. The raking finger or fingers'may throw the separated leaves into a pile, or pass themto a.

a conveyor; in the latter case the conveyor mechani'sm'will serve to maintain some separation between the individual leavesior small group of" leaves) and deliver them separated to the processing machine or'mechanism; This conveyor"- T mechanism may be the conveyor of a processing therakin'g actionis by motion-in the same dir ec' machine. v

In the accompanying drawing, Fig: 1 israplan view of a separating and. feeding mechanism of: my invention arranged'for'feeding-a stemming Fig.2 is an elevation of the same mechanism. Fig. 3'isa larger scaleelevation, partly in section, of a part of the same machine machine.

ends of the leaves extending across the belts 3 and the blades on the belts 2. At 2, the conveyor may consist of a smooth rubber," leather or canvas belt or belts, but preferably the partat ii is toothed 3 in some manner, so asto' positively hold and carry the leaves along; conveniently 3 can consist of a pair of sprocket chains provided with'projecting pin teeth 4 on the links. The various conveyor belts (if more than one is employed) can be supported by pulleys on common. shafts 5.. To press teeth 4, aplate 6 may be provided, carriedon rods 7 surrounded by springs 8 to resiliently pressthe plate toward the tops of the :pins or theteeth 4, these'supporting rods being. carried on brackets "9 arising from the bed of the machine.

(lefthand) receiving end of the conveyor belts so as to leave room forthe placement of the leaf masses on the conveyor belts by the. operator," and the entrance endof the presser'plate may be turned upwardly as indicated at 10 to assure the leaf masses passing underneath it.

Adjacent the discharge end of the conveyor belts is provided the finger device or rake which acts to divide up the leaf masses brought forward by the conveyor or conveyors just described. The device or rake" here shown is representative of suitable devicesforthe purpose, and also is illustrative-of its preferred form} Primarily, it consists of finger members 14 andl'B pointed at their lower ends'where they Work on the leaf masses, and arranged and disposed to. woiko'n the leaf masses adjacent the toothed belts 3 par: ticularly; i. e., adjacent the'stem ends of-the leaves" Whereat the leaves are attached together tion "asthat in which the-conveyors carry the leaves ,(to the i right, in the drawing). The specific motion of these fingers is substantially as represented by the three positionsofthe finger '15 shownin' Fig. 3; that is to say, the fingers are'firs't thrust downwardly into a leaf mass, then moved to the right (to pull an integral part of the leaf mass from the remainder), and then' a are returned upward and'backward to their; In the machine illustrated, ahorizontal table 1 starting positions. Obviously the movement does not need to 'be in a triangular path'like that illustrated however.

. and hold the leaf stems between the conveyor presser plate 6 extends only'part way toward'the' Advantageously; supple;v

mental fingers such as 18 and l9for exampleg are provided between the fingers 14 and 15. The fingers 14 and 15operating outside the leaf-mass support 43 later mentioned again; may be; and preferably are, thrust positively against or into: the leaf masses the supplemental or intermediate fingers'lB and "19 working rather opposite'this.

plate however, are preferably supported resiliently. To the latter end, the supplemental or intermediate fingers may be mounted on a crossbar 17 slidable on the fingers 14 and 15 and which is pressed outwardly by spring 32 interposed between this bar 17 and a bar 16 fastened to 14 and 15. The leaf-mass-support 43' may be slotted or indented at 33, below the fingers 18 and 19," to permit the latter to pass more or less through the support. In the present instance, the movement of the finger device is secured by fixing the frame formed by the fingers 14 and15 and the associated cross-bar 16 (seeiEig. ,4) on; a rock shaft 21 to which a bracket 20 is fixed, and which shaft is mounted ohbearings'in the head 22 of a vertically reciprocating rod 23', together j;

with. cams 24 and 25 on the driven shaft 26.

dicated. n Fig. 4. The parts of these two cams vanced intermittently, step by step, and is advanced' in such a timed relation with respect to the operation of the finger device, that thefinger not shovvh' in, thisfigure are circular. Itis obvious of course that the cams 24 and 25,in recip rocating., carry ing post 23 and plunger 29, will cause the; finger device to move through the path:

previously pointed out. ,Preferably the conveyor device 2'3 1S', ad-

device is thrust downwardly from its highest to its lowestjposition (see Fig. 3) and is also thrust,

out to tear off a part of; the leaf mass beneath it, ,at a time when the conveyorfsystem 2 .3 is at rest. To efiectyand maintain .this, ti1ning, the

conveyor system may be'driven by, tlfleisame driven shaft 26 as drives the earns 24 and 25 and in order-tosecure thestep by step motion this shaft maydrive the conveyor systemthroughapawl. and ratchet mechanism. This is {the-con.-

nection betweenkthe drivenshaft, 26 and the lefthand shaft 5 of the conveyor system; it will' beobserved that a crank 37onshaft26actuates alink, 38 connected to .an arm 39 rocking on the; rear end of theglefthand conveyor shaft and. carrying a pawl 40 spring-pressed,towarda ratchet' 4l fastened to thisjshaft. The driven;

shaft 26 ,may be driven by a sprocket and chain 42 and; for example, from any c o nvenient power source, Usually I so adjust the throw;

of the, pawl 40,,that the conveyor belts make from two .to ,four steps forward in advancing the distance between two of the pins or teeth 4; since the. finger devicej14.l9 is arranged to move.

through onecomplete cycle foreach step forward of the conveyor belts, obviously the fingers can rake a leaf mass between any two adja-.

cent fingers4 a corresponding number of times;

and divide any such mass into a correspondingnumber of integral parts. This shouldnot be taken-to mean that each leaf mass is carefully laid entirely between two adjacent fingers or. teeth 4; to the contrary, a broad leaf, massmay: extend across the space of a numberof; these pin.

teeth 4. 1

The table top' 1 provides a surface 'against whic'hthe-leaves 'or leaf stems may lie, interme;-'

diate the two belts 3. Adjacent the finger device however, this' supporting surface is-preferably inclined upwardly to a point nearly or quite at'the tops of the'pin teeth 4, and for this purpose I usually provide an inclined metal plate 43 at this place. This inclined surface not only tends to raise the leaves out of the path of the pin teeth 4, but also serves to hold the leaf masses well up within the range of thefinger device in its raking action. I"he devices 44 are extensions of the holding or pressure plate 6, separated from each other to provide space for the fingers .to pass down through them to engage the leaves.

As before indicated, the leaf separator thus de- 1scribed may'deliverjthe separated leaves into a conveyor, and thelatter may be a part of the machine for processing the leaves. Both a preferred form of 'co'nv'eyor for). the separated leaves, and

theuseofithe leaf separator as a feeder for a stemming machine, are illustrated in the drawns. The 'natureiof the yleaf stemmerkisnot of primarygimportance? to; a present invention. The; stemmer: shownv in ,thendrawinggcpnsists essentiallyJof a broad conveyor belt 48; to receive the blades of the leaves-.11 pair ofcard'clothing;

belts49. and.150.forreceivingthe-butt ends ,of the stemsabetween-them, one org both thelatter-constitutingthebladeqstrinpfi fi and a pair of :belts .511 to; grab and pull the, stems fromathejbladesqin passing; thewcard clothingbelts' .49; and .50: and

the. conveyor belt 48; run, in: the. directions findicate'd by the arrows; iniEig. 2. This type oftstemmer is already known, and the foregoing descrip-- tion thereof will; servezthezpresent purposes.

Thegrelation..between.. the card clothing conveyorand the:separator:is-shown"in theldrawing;

in brief,:.the toothed; conveyor'r49. where .it passes around qits supportingpulley; 52, is located adjacent and so closetotherfinger -devicea-1'4+-19, that thenlatter thrusts; the separated leaves; substan-..

tially'intotheteethxof this conveyor 49 a circular guide 53 willxserveatozpress the butt ends of the v leavesd'nto the wires orteeth of .thisconveyor; and hold .them .thereinuntil. they reach the'.coope'rat-- ing toothed conveyor '501(see Fig; 3. particularly) A's; a-matter .of.conveni'ence,..this' guide 53:.maybe" .e'xtensiomof, andxform'ed in part-by; the 1 plate 43 before mentioned,.and as:.shown in the draw ingyfin ordensto provide .apprdpriateiflxibility, the guide:.58. may be composed of'sections, individually pressed tOvvard'the-teeth .of conveyor .belt

49.:by individual springsz54, 'andijoined. together by- .bowed spring: links 55 Stationary curved.

guidesifio' may be; provided for supporting. the

blades of: the leavesinpassmgfrom the belts 2' t0 the belt 48, the curves of these guides more or less corresponding: withpthei curves of the guide 53for. the butt ends of the leaves.- The conveyor belts48, 49 and150; receivingcthe separated leaves, are driven 'at=such a speed astokeep the leaves separated more or less, and correspondinglya more or less: seriatim' delivery of the leaf stems into the-stamming'beltszfil; whether the speed of..th'e conveyor belts 48, 49 and "50 is'just sufficient to maintain the separation given to the I5'"-1 9,- or whether-their speed is greater or some-' what less than thisymay be determined by the needs of the. stemming belts51. i .In'operation', bundles; of leaves of the kind described-are firstrcrudely broken open by hand,

leaves by the operation o! the finger device,

as: before? mentioned; or more-or. less separated intodistinct parts by hand; and, say by hand,. placed on itheconveyor bolts 2 and 3, at the lefthandend of. thelatter, as viewed in the present:

and thrust'lthis-part into oron to. the .teeth ofthe intermediate each advancing step of these conveyor belt's2.-'+3,.the.finger device.14.-19 is thrust downwardly into" the leaf mass immediately below it,iand then :quickly oscillated toward the right to tear away an integral part of the leaf. mass,

stemmer...conveyor-belt 49; :thevarious pin teeth- 4, and -the coactionofthe plate 43 and the extensionmembersv 44. of the presser plate 6, hold or tend to retain the remainder of each leaf mass as, say, one ortwo or .three leaves are snatched off by the oscillation. of the finger device. Re-

peated actions of the'finger device, in cooperation with repeated step by stepadvancements of. conveyor belts23, thus result in the ultimate disintegration of each leaf mass into substantially its.compohentllements. Of course, it will be understood that not every oscillation of the finger device will strip off a leaf from an oncoming leaf mass, and individual oscillations of the finger device may pull off two or three leaves, instead of a single one. Each unit of a single leaf, or group of a few numbers of leaves, is carried away by the continuously-moving card clothing belt 49 as the latter receives it, and without further attention are carried along, separated from each other, to the stemming station and there are stemmed by the action of the stemming belts 51 in cooperation with the card clothing belts 49 and 50.

It will be understood, of course, that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation above described and illustrated in the drawing, except as appears hereinafter in the claims.

What is claimed is,

1. In mechanism for separating bunched leaves, a rake, means to hold a portion of each leaf mass in a substantially stationary position under the rake, and means to thrust the rake into the same mass and rake a second portion from the mass while said means is holdingthe first mentioned portion in said substantially stationary position.

2. In mechanism for separating bunched leaves, a rake, means to hold portions of each leaf mass in substantially stationary position under the rake, and means to thrust the rake into the same mass repeatedly and each time'rake a portion from the mass while said means is holding the remainder of the said mass in such substantially stationary position. a

3. In mechanism for separating bunched leaves, a rake, a conveyor and holding means to carry leaf masses to the rake and hold a portion of each leaf mass in substantially stationary position under the rake, means to advance said conveyor means step by step, and means to rake the rake over the leaf masses in substantially-the intervals during which said conveyor and holding means is at rest and holding said portions in such substantially stationary position.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, in combination with a stemming device having a blade stripper and means to grasp and pull the stems from the blades, said stemming device also including a conveyor to carry the leaves to said means to grasp the stems, said conveyor being located to receive the part separated from the remainder of the leaf mass by said rake, and

means tomove said conveyor ata speed sufficient to keep .thesaid part separated from "the "remainderiof. the mass.

w 35'. In mechanism fori-iseparating bunched leaves, the combination of. a rake, means, to ip're-.-

sent leaf. masses to the rake successively and hold portions of each mass in substantially stationary.

position under. the rake, means to rake the rake on said individual leaf masses repeat'edlywhile said means is holding said portionsin 'such'sub-g stantiallystationary positions, andi meansprog.

viding a surface or surfaces to support the stem ends of. the leaf massesagain'st the thrust ofthe fingers of the? rake," said me'ansbeing so located that said surface or surfaces lie between the fingers of therake as said fingers areraked on a leaf mass supported by said surfaceorsurfaces.

6. In. mechanism. for, separating bunched leaves, Ia belt-type conveyor for the leaf masses, a

plurality of rows of teeth thereon toreceivexthe leaf .masses transversely; means for. advancing said. conveyor stepby step, a finger 'device; adja-.

cent the discharge end of the conveyor,, and

means for thrusting said finger device into the leaf masses, thence substantially in the direction of the movement of the conveyor, and thence upwardly' and back to its starting position, said means moving said finger device in substantially the direction of movement of the conveyor during substantially each of the intervals when the conveyor is at rest. I

7. The subject matter of claim 6, incombination with a second toothed conveyor for the separated leaves, said second toothed conveyor being located adjacent said finger device so that the latter thrusts the separated leaves substantially into the teeth of the latter conveyor.

8. In mechanism for leaves, means providing a surface or surfaces for supporting the stem ends of the leaf masses against the thrust of the fingers hereinafter menseparating bunched tioned, a finger to engage the stem ends of the leaf masses at each side of said means, and mech anism operating said fingers to repeatedly thrust the ends of said fingers into each leaf mass-substantially transversely of said surface or surfaces and past said surface or surfaces, and then move the finger ends substantially parallel to said surface or surfaces, in combination with other fingers to work on the leaf masses in substantially the same directions, said other fingers being located between the first mentioned fingers, and meansresiliently mounting said other fingers.

9. In mechanism of the kind indicated, a conveyor for leaf masses, a table onto which said conveyor thrusts the leaf masses beyond the grasp of the conveyor, a device having finger means to thrust into the leaf masses by movement in a direction. substantially directly toward the table top, and then to move in a direction at an angle to the first mentioned direction to carry said masses away from said conveyor and table, and

means to drive said device at such a speed, relative to the speed of the conveyor, that said finger means acts a plurality of times on substantially each leaf mass toseparate parts thereof from each other. a

10. In mechanism of the kind indicated, a conveyor engaging the stem-ends of leaf masses, a table onto which said conveyor thrusts the stemends of the leaf masses, a device having finger means to thrust into the stem-ends of the leaf masses by movement in a direction substantially directly toward the table top, and then to move.

in a direction at an angle to the first mentioned I direction to carry said: masses away irom said conveyor and table, and means to drive saidfdevice at such a speed, relative to the speed otsaid.

conveyor, that said finger means acts a plurality of times on the stem-ends of substantially each leaf mass to separate stems 0t each other. a

11. The combination with the subject matter of claim lO, of a conveyor movable substantially each mass from parallel to the conveyor engaging: the stem-ends transport the blade portions of the leaf masses, to of the leaf masses. 1

12. The combination'of the subjectmatterxof claim 10 and means to advance :said conveyor intermittently step by step.

13. The subject matter of claim 10, character-3 ized by the fact that said conveyor comprisesa pair of conveying elements, substantially parallel to and spaced from each other; and said table risesbetween'said conveyingelements. 14.- The subject matter of claim 10, character ized by the fact that said conveyorlcomprisesa:

pair or intermittently-advancing. conveying elel' 15; Thesubjectmatter 01' claiin lm' character ized by thefact'that said finger device includes a pair of projecting fingers and'operating atthe' two sides of said. table."

1 16. The combination withithesubject matterioiclaim 10, of aireceiving conveyor: to receive the separated stems from said flngerdevice, said receiving conveyor operating: at a speed at least equal to therspeed of said finger device.

17. The combination with the subjectmatter of claim 10, ofaleaf stemming device including 7 a blade-stripping device, said blade-stripping device being so located with respect to. said 'flnger' device as to receive the separated stems :there- V v' JOSEPH 'GOUGH.

CERTlFiCATE 0F CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,987,193. January 8, 1935.

JOSEPH GOUGH.

I It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, second column, line 9, claim 15, strike out the word "and"; and that the said" Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of February, A. D. 1935.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner. of Patents. 

